I am looking at the Primary Arms SLx MD-25 microdot. I was wondering if anyone has used this one? Or is it only pre-order and not out in the wild yet? I see some YouTube videos of gear review guys testing it. It seems interesting and like a great sight. It somewhat reminds me of the Trijicon MRO. Another red dot I want and I may get it and put on my x95. Right now I am looking finishing out two AR-15 builds. These are rifles I want to use hard and I'm wondering if Primary Arms red dots can handle abuse?

I have been looking at Sig Romeo 5 and all kinds of Holosun red dots.

What are your experiences with Primary Arms and if you have this red dot or one in their SLx line up, what are your thoughts?

We have 10 of these on duty rifles at my work. I’ve put them through 6 days of rifle training as and they’ve been handled pretty roughly. Slammed into barricades, etc. still work fine. I le specially like that the rotary know can go from 0 straight to 10 instead of havejng to go 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. I would buy with confidence.

They are heavy duty and beefy with a super robust mount with different height options.

Battery life (advertised) is awesome and I personally like rotary brightness control as I do not trust buttons or shake awake

I recommend them as patrol duty rifle optics

CS and warranty with PA makes it an easy choice over Sig or Holosun.

Good to know that they are duty ready and have been put through the ringer too. That makes me feel better about buying one.



Does it not have a shake awake feature? Not a big deal if doesn't but I kind of like that. I need to look at the battery life again. I want to say it was 100K hours.

My take: shake awake is one more electronic component which can break. It you have a constant on battery life measured in multiple years, just change the battery every year for $2 and leave it on so it is always ready.

Roger that! Battery management today is so much better than years ago. I get what you are saying. I think this optic is the right one for me. Its one of the reasons I went with a Meprolight M21 for my Tavor Sar. When the tritium dies I cna add a wash out remover to it and it will be good to go. 10-15 years is a long time. I think I'm going to place an order for one. Maybe two.

This.  Lithium Cell Button Battery is CHEAP, so leave just change it when you get a new Calendar and you are golden...

I prefer the Vortex StrikeFire at that price. I've never owned a rotary dial red dot. I prefer to push a button and it illuminates with the memorized previously used brightness setting. When shit goes bump in the night it's pitch black. I just grab the optic and push to activate. IF any adjustment is ever required, like day time use, it's just a couple presses of the button.

For a bed side SHTF optic I would prefer a shake awake option that way just just pick the the weapon up. Less to have to think about is not a big deal. Even IF the shake awake failed ... there's always the option to manually turn it on right?

Don't let anyone persuade you with anecdotal statements. I say just get what you prefer or interests you. It won't be you last red dot anyway.

I like the idea of shake awake. You bring up a valid point. If the dot fails (shake awake) just turn it on. What if the whole thing fails and there is no way to turn it on? I know the shake awake feature is almost bomb proof at this point. I really like a big open lens. Its one of the reasons the MRO got my attention.

I will be doing some research on the Stirkefire.

To be honest, I have heard of some instances where the shake awake has not functioned right, but there I'd look to the warranty first. Some have said it was too sensitive if I recall, but not positive. Also I recall something about the auto shut off malfunctioning. Both would be a bad thing and prematurely drain the battery. I personally always use QD mounts on all of my red dots so they can be removed if they ever fail for whatever reason.

Vortex has the best warranty and I've had to use it before with one of their very first generation StrikeFires. The process was simple and they gave me their newest generation in exchange no questions asked. Can't beat that.

I really don’t get those saying shake awake is awesome because it turns on when you pick up it... the battery life on the Primary Arms red dots is 5 YEARS constant on at medium setting. Why not just leave it on take the possibility of failure out of it.

Ya I get it but..  If the life is 3-5 years on Medium settings,  I will put in a new $3 battery every 2-3 years and call it good for my peace of mind.  JMHO,  I like the dial!  If the shake awake can be turned off, that works too.